Power play

Friday

Jan 18, 2013 at 9:11 AMJan 18, 2013 at 9:34 AM

The future size, panoramic view and ecology of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are at stake in a lawsuit challenging federal approval of a massive power line route and a still-murky agreement with utilities to trade new land for permission to cross federally owned property near Bushkill.

David Pierce

The future size, panoramic view and ecology of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area are at stake in a lawsuit challenging federal approval of a massive power line route and a still-murky agreement with utilities to trade new land for permission to cross federally owned property near Bushkill.

Thousands of additional acres surrounding the 70,000-acre park could be permanently protected from development under the utilities' proposal, connecting the recreation area to other federal, state and private conservation land in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

But the environmental cost to the recreation area is simply too high, a coalition of environmental groups say in their suit, filed in federal District Court in Washington, D.C.

The outcome will permanently shape not only the recreation area, Delaware River and the local portion of the Appalachian Trail but also the fledgling Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge and other protected lands in the two-state region.

The National Park Service last fall approved the power line route sought by PPL Electrical Utilities of Pennsylvania

and PSE&G of New Jersey, following a four-year review under the National Environmental Policy Act. The NEPA review is required for all projects encroaching on federal land.

The utilities gained approval to use an existing power-line corridor predating the park to build 28 taller towers carrying more powerful electrical lines, in some cases widening the right of way. It was approved despite the utilities' admission the project will cause unavoidable negative environmental impacts.

PPL and PSE&G propose to mitigate the impacts not only through minimizing construction techniques inside the park but also by spending "at least $56 million" to buy and protect additional properties surrounding the recreation area.

The project, advocated by a multi-state utility industry group, will enable more electricity to flow 147 miles eastward, from a nuclear power plant near Berwick, to Roseland, N.J., to minimize potential power disruptions there.

Utility regulators in both states have given the project procedural approval, but the National Park Service has ultimate jurisdiction for crossing the recreation area, the Delaware River and the Appalachian Trail.

Neither the park service's final environmental impact statement nor its record of decision explains how the land acquisition process outside the recreation area boundaries will work, what properties are involved or how much will be spent.

But the park service won't issue required federal permits for the power line crossing unless the "Middle Delaware Mitigation Fund" is in place.

The utilities admit in correspondence to the park service that they've already identified properties for acquisition, and held discussions with potential sellers, but insist the park service must keep these details secret before any land buying begins.

"Most of the information is confidential and proprietary; all of it is sensitive," the utilities wrote to NPS in January 2012. "The potential to acquire the land for conservation purposes likely would be frustrated if the information were to be publicized."

It is one of the key points cited by a coalition of environmental groups in challenging National Park Service approval of the power-line route. The absence of acquisition details from the National Park Service for public consideration violates the Environmental Policy Act, they contend.

The suit calls for a preliminary injunction preventing the utilities from beginning power-line prep work this winter, and for overturning the federal power-line approval.

"The public has no information about the lands or acreage that will be purchased through the fund," wrote attorneys for Earthjustice, Eastern Environmental Law Center and several regional environmental groups and individuals, including the Sierra Club. "Neither is there any indication or certainty that land acquisitions will be purchased and managed in a way that genuinely offsets damages to existing parklands."

The utilities have reached agreement with a federal land trust based in Virginia — The Conservation Fund — to administer its land acquisition process. The nonprofit group specializes in partnerships with other groups to preserve land.

The Conservation Fund's press office didn't return calls seeking comment on its role in the power-line mitigation agreement. PPL spokesman Paul Wirth said The Conservation Fund and National Park Service will jointly administer the fund, at the park service's direction.

The utilities last January noted "an overall universe of 650 parcels or interests in land" surrounding the recreation area for possible purchase. This includes 39,500 acres in Pennsylvania and 20,500 acres in New Jersey.

PPL and PSE&G said there is a "dialogue" with owners of 13,500 acres in Pennsylvania and 500 acres in New Jersey. Active negotiations or sales options have been exercised for 12 Pennsylvania tracts (10,700 acres) and five New Jersey tracts (410 acres).

Properties would be bought in an area around the recreation area, the adjacent federally protected middle Delaware River, the Appalachian Trail and the Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge. An emphasis would be placed on obtaining and preserving properties that maintain an unobstructed "natural view" of surrounding areas, according to the utilities' NEPA filings.

Wildlife refuges are set aside specifically for conservation of fish, wildlife and plants and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The Cherry Valley refuge — created in 2008 — includes potential acquisitions in Stroud, Hamilton, Chestnuthill, Ross and Smithfield townships, encompassing 20,466 acres between Godfrey Ridge and Kittatinny Mountain.

Fish and Wildlife makes federal money available to purchase properties from willing sellers only. So far, just one property — an 184-acre parcel once part of Cherry Valley Vineyards in Saylorsburg — was bought for the refuge, in October 2010.

The utilities and the park service have been tight-lipped about specific properties near the recreation area to be acquired for preservation. But a key clue emerged last September about the possible identity of one of them.

First National Community Bank asked Middle Smithfield Township to extinguish a previously approved housing development so the bank could sell the property to a conservation group.

The 170-acre property on Hidden Valley Road — approved by the township in 2010 for the never-built 100-unit Water Gap Preserve — was owned by LTS Development, which signed it over to the bank in lieu of foreclosure. The property is across the street from a portion of the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.

The bank didn't return phone calls seeking comment. A Monroe County-based conservation group said it has no role in the proposed acquisition from the bank and doesn't know who does.

Wirth said the utilities are awaiting issuance of construction permits from the park service, at which point NPS will provide more details on the mitigation land purchases.

"I expect they will have more to say about how it will be administered when they're ready," Wirth said.

The recreation area's deputy superintendent, Bill Leonard, said his agency has potential properties on a priority list but hasn't zeroed in on specific sites.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.